


how quickly the glamour fades

by lily_pearl (lilyandjoey), lilyandjoey



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Post-War, Rain, Tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-14
Updated: 2010-05-14
Packaged: 2017-10-09 10:53:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/86494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyandjoey/pseuds/lily_pearl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyandjoey/pseuds/lilyandjoey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A chance encounter between two lost souls, drifting. After the War, two very different people go into hiding for very different reasons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	how quickly the glamour fades

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for [](http://community.livejournal.com/rarepair_shorts/profile)[**rarepair_shorts**](http://community.livejournal.com/rarepair_shorts/) Winter 2009-2010 exchange.

The rain drums on Neville's greenhouses and the sound echoes around vast glass interiors so that the storm raging outside sounds ten times worse than it is. He walks calmly among the rows of plants, tending to their needs instinctively as he goes. He prefers it out here with the plants in this sort of weather. It feels safer in the greenhouses than it does in his little house when the thunder rolls, even though it sounds that much worse. Neville makes his way back to the table in the far corner of the greenhouse and sits down to go through his ledgers. He's never had a head for figures, but everything seems to be adding up and he has enough orders from potions suppliers and plant enthusiasts to bring in the small amount of money he needs to get by.

After an hour or so, the sound of the rain dies down enough that he can go the short distance from the greenhouses to his house without getting too wet. He goes to the kitchen to start making his evening meal and sighs as he surveys the empty shelves of his cupboards. He cobbles together an odd meal of noodles from a packet and tinned vegetables and resolves to go shopping in Penzance tomorrow.

-0-

Pansy sits on the wall outside the YMCA and lights up a cigarette. She looks up at the sky, glad that the heavy grey clouds are moving away. She hates the rain. None of her clothes are warm enough and none of them keep her dry. The dress she is wearing is over large on her too thin frame but it was cheap and she can no longer afford to be choosy. She tries not to think about the pretty dress she had tailor-made for her first dance. The warm cloak and robes she wore at school. She tries not to think about the large comfortable bed and opulent room she called hers at her family home.

It doesn't do to dwell on the past. Not when she wears clothes from Muggle charity shops and lives in 'emergency accommodation' – another way of saying that she cannot stay here forever. She wonders whether it's time to move on yet. Find another bunch of well meaning Muggles who think they can fix her. They think she's a recovering drug addict or has mental health problems, despite the fact that she's never been into that sort of thing and she's never tried to give them that impression. Maybe tomorrow she'll look for a job, something cash in hand.

-0-

Neville sits at the bottom of the stairs and pulls on his boots. He stands and shrugs on his jacket, giving himself a quick once over in the mirror before he heads out. But for the scars on his face he looks just like any of the locals. As he should: he's been living here for long enough now. He chose Land's End because it sounded so remote and he was pleased to find that it lived up to its name. Foolish really, but he had wanted to get as far away from other people as possible. The fame that comes with being a war hero is too much for Neville. It's hard to blend into the crowd with the facial scarring that seems to be a prerequisite for facing Lord Voldemort.

Neville enjoys the drive to Penzance far more than travelling by any magical means. He can savour the journey this way and it's much easier to get the shopping home in the car than it would be by floo or apparition. Not that he knows anywhere in Penzance to floo to, mind. He goes to the supermarket first and stocks up on as much food as will keep, then he goes into the town proper to pick up a couple of things.

-0-

Pansy walks slowly from the YMCA through the town and down to the seafront. She likes watching the waves crashing, enjoys the sound they make. Watching something so vast and powerful soothes her shattered nerves in a way she could never put into words. She sits on a bench and looks out over the water. Briefly, the thought crosses her mind that she will miss this when she leaves. She hasn't stayed in one place for more than a few weeks since she ran from her old life. She has worked her way down here from Scotland through England always travelling south and now there isn't much further south she can go. She'll have to work north again (maybe take a detour into Wales for a while) carefully avoiding places she's been before and places with Wizarding populations.

She sighs and looks down at her mismatched clothing. No one will give her even temporary work looking like this and she's running low on cash. She pulls herself together and decides to get a cup of tea. The cheapest café isn't far from here and it'll be worth the cost just to feel warm and human again for a little while. She doesn't see him until she's paid for the tea and it's already too late.

-0-

Neville's not quite ready to go home yet, so he decides to stop for a cup of tea before driving back. He sits in a cosy armchair with his back to the window of the café, surveying the general comings and goings. As he picks up his mug of tea, Neville scrutinizes the small queue at the counter. There's something strangely familiar about the girl at the front of the queue. Her posture is almost haughty but her clothes are ill-fitting and definitely second-hand. Her hair is pulled back from her face and as she turns towards him he recognizes her instantly.

As Pansy meets his eyes her look of terror tells him that she recognizes him too. Neville glances at the empty chair across from him and then back up at Pansy in unspoken invitation. To his surprise and gratification, she walks slowly over with her mug of tea and sits down. She looks down at the table rather than at him and Neville wonders how it is that the ever superior Pansy Parkinson is now afraid of him. He wonders what she's been through and what she has done in order to survive.

"I won't tell anyone where you are, as long as you don't tell anyone where I am," Neville offers quietly.

-0-

Pansy sits in a little café in Penzance drinking a large mug of hot sweet tea. Sitting opposite her is Neville Longbottom. To say that he's the last person she expected to see wouldn't be entirely accurate – there are other far more unlikely scenarios, of course. Suffice it to say, she had not anticipated that this was where her day would lead. When he asks her not to tell anyone where he is, she laughs. She's been living in fear of being found for so long and she's found by someone just as desperate to remain hidden as she is.

She could have been found by anyone. She's glad it was him. A boy she bullied at school for being fat and clumsy and inept. A boy who grew up to be righteous and kind-hearted and brave. She's glad to have been found by someone so very different from herself because she would not have been so charitable were their roles reversed. As she drinks her tea, she wonders what he is hiding from and feels a little ashamed that she has spent so long thinking only of her own survival. She's spent so long running and so little time living.

She finishes her tea, kisses Neville on the cheek and heads for the door.


End file.
